Protocol 37b
by Soul Stealer 2K4
Summary: Tired of being pushed into the background by Danny for other girls, Sam goes to a specialist about getting rid of her emotions. What she probably didn't realise is that her heart was taken out in the process... DxS, onesided at first
1. Protocol 37b

**Protocol 37-b**

"I don't know about this, it seems dangerous."

He cast a peculiar glance to where she sat on the marble floor, her uncertainty shining through the placid surface of her china doll complexion.

"You have never questioned my decisions before, child, why start now?" His voice reeked of a somewhat bitter after-tone as he turned to question her. "Do you not want me to help?"

"Of course I still want your help, I'm just… nervous." She looked away from him, twiddling her fingers in timidity.

"Trust in me, child, for you know as well as I do that this is for your own good." He knelt down in front of her and lifted her chin with his claws until she could easily see the tiny flecks of gold hidden in his deep purple eyes.

"Yes, I know," A glimpse of a smile crossed her lips and the half-demon returned the gesture.

Sam was a little freaked out by the demon at first, and wondered if her dealings with him were even a good idea in the first place. But it was too late to go back on her choice now, after all, she had signed a contract, and said contract was valid until the enactment of Protocol 37-b, a loop hole that was her ticket to freedom.

Even so, such a loop hole may never come to pass, for it was that very condition that was the reason Sam had gone to him in the first place. He had promised that she would never feel her heart break again; that the pain she felt weighing down her chest would be disposed of. However, three weeks had passed, and yet, he had done nothing to still the ache inside of her.

She frequently visited him, offering the justification of 'girl problems' to her two male best friends and rather feeble excuses to her parents to do so, each time hoping that 'today will be the day where the apprehension stops', but each time had been a crushing failure.

He claimed that in order for this ritual to work, she must offer her complete and boundless trust, and until she did, they'd continue partaking in activities that she felt to be rather irrelevant to her overall purpose of being there. Their current session had run longer than she expected, but they both agreed it was time for Sam's misgivings to come to an end.

Today she would give him what he wanted. And he wholeheartedly promised to return the favour with the one thing she needed, that only _he_ could offer her.

Complete liberation from her emotions.

"You are ready," he mumbled, piercing her soul with sharp indigo eyes. "I can sense the wariness fading swiftly from you."

She remained silent. He raised an eyebrow at her neutral reaction.

"It's not my place to say it, Samantha, _you _must say so."

Lilac met dark navy in a distanced lock of eyes.

"I trust you."

And that was all he needed. He offered his assistance to her, which she accepted. She couldn't help but notice how his scaly grip felt like cool fresh leather and his razor blade talons enclosed her dainty hand so gently yet so securely. As crude and sinister as this demon was made out to be, he certainly knew how to treat her. He was always so polite and delicate when she was there in the refined and suavely decorated realm he called home. Marble floors, silk and satin and velour furnishings; how he came across such fine things in the Ghost Zone was quite peculiar.

She almost found herself attracted to him on more than one occasion, but she forced her affections away; her heart belonged to only one person – the same person who mindlessly cast her aside for a menagerie of other girls who either liked one half or the other, but never the whole thing. To be filled with so much love that she desperately wanted to lavish upon that special someone, only to be pushed back, always left a twinge of burning anger in the pit of her heart.

It was, of course, that unbearable pain which drove her to seek the help of the Daikirai demon.

Perhaps she should've found out what 'daikirai' meant – for all she knew, her life now belonged to him, and her sole purpose was to fulfil his every wish and whim, no matter what physical emotional or _sexual _aspect it entailed. But somehow, that didn't seem to fit the description of this mint green dragon hybrid, especially as she was escorted and gently placed in the seat of a velvet cushion.

He sat on another cushion, placed directly opposite, and glanced at her encouragingly. She knew what he wanted to hear.

"I _trust_ you, Daikirai."

"Close your eyes Samantha,"

She did as she was told. Now deprived of sight, she tried to figure out what was happening with her other senses. Her ears were receiving signals of something cracking and the rustle of clothing. A sweet smoke tempted her nose to sneeze at the scent of what she believed to be Egyptian Musk. The skin on her chest went deathly cold when she recognised the leathery texture of his fingertips…

And then she blacked out…

* * *

"Sam! SAM! Wake up!" A panicky male voice reached her ears before she had a chance to restore her vision.

It was Danny. She looked at him with a blank expression. Didn't she used to feel things inside her stomach when she saw him? She couldn't really remember. A majority of past feelings remained lost in the foggy bayou of her mind. So far hidden away that she didn't even really know what feelings were.

"Oh Sam! Thank the lord; I thought you were badly hurt."

"Yeah, we saw you collapse on the ground, not long after you got back from… well, wherever it was you were."

She turned her head to the left to see Tucker, confusedly scratching his head. A tiny red trickle slid down her face. Danny brushed back her hair to reveal a deep gash, about 5 inches long. He moved more strands of hair to see the scratch had cut into the roots and sliced a few wisps off. Sam said nothing. She didn't even blush.

Tucker shook his head in disbelief, trying to work out how she got the abrasion on her temple, while Danny pulled her into his embrace. Moments later, his eyes snapped open. He didn't feel anything. On rare occasions in the past when he'd hugged Sam, there was always something there; a spark, or a good vibe, or even a warm sentiment. But this, this was an empty, soulless hug that she only obliged to because he initiated it. He sensed the cold indifference that emanated from her core. Such heartlessness he had never felt before, not even on the many occasions when Vlad had made a pathetic attempt to win him over.

He pulled away and tried to read her eyes. Again, nothing; like a heart monitor that had just been switched off, he could swear he saw the flat line in her iris.

"I have to go." She plainly stood up, brushed herself off and walked away.

Danny was still on his knees and watched Sam slowly fade into the distance.

"What the hell was that?" Tucker crossed his arms.

"I don't know, Tuck, but it's like someone reached into her body and took her heart away…"

* * *

I deleted Perfect Enemy cuz it sucked like a convict at the crack of a gas chamber door. Please enjoy Protocol 37-b, which will actually _have _DxS in it, even if most of it is one-sided until the last chapter.

Oh and btw, Daikirai means hate, loathe, abhor etc….

SS2K4


	2. At School

**At School**

Danny tried to focus, he really did, but it was no use. The pencil was held limply in his fingers. A blank sheet of notepaper stared at him with white blaring emptiness. He sighed. He'd never get this essay written, granted it wasn't due in until next week, but owing to the lack of ghost problems he figured he would try getting ahead with his schoolwork for once. So far he was looking at Summer School if he didn't pull his grades up.

The margin was filled with doodles, random collective thoughts loosely translated into shapes and numbers. How was he supposed to worry about the relationship between Romeo and Mercutio when his own friendship with Sam appeared to be dissolving? The past few weeks she had been distant and nervous, awkwardly making up feminine excuses to get away from Tucker and himself.

He didn't quite understand her inner workings, although he had thought of many reasons for her sudden change in attitude.

Maybe she'd been bullied by the more popular girls. No, she was headstrong and knew damn well how to deal with those who dished out the insults. Maybe she had a secret boyfriend who was abusing her. Again, no, not only would she have physical marks and contusions but she'd be hysterical beyond belief if either of her guy friends came near her.

Then there was the possibility of… drugs. During one of many lectures about the dangers of solvent abuse, the details for side effects and signs that give away a drug user had eventually sunk into his brain.

"Nuts to this!" He angrily tossed his books to the floor and bashed his forehead on the tabletop.

Surging pain rushed through his face and jarred his already pounding headache into a 1.7 scale migraine. Being careful not to get a head rush, Danny rose to his feet and walked over to his bed. Shattered and in serious agony, he collapsed onto the blue duvet and curled up tightly into a foetal positioned ball.

Maybe things would be better in the morning…

…Or maybe not.

Sam was sitting on the ascending steps to the double entrance doors of Casper High. In a baggy pink shirt that hung low over loose-fitting white jeans, she kicked at the bottom step with a pair of yellow and silver Nike Shox trainers where her combats used to be. The one and only Paulina Sanchez was standing next to her, apparently striking up what looked to be a friendly conversation. She wasn't getting much of a reaction.

"So I was wondering if you were free this weekend." She flashed a dazzling smile and clasped her hands together.

"Whatever…"

"Wow, you don't say much do you?"

"Nope,"

"Great! Here's an invite to my sleepover on Saturday! See ya!" Paulina handed her a flowery piece of paper and happily skipped up the stairs and into the building.

"Hmm,"

Once upon a time, Sam Manson would've shot herself in the face before accepting invitations from Paulina, hell; she'd usually go off her head if the Hispanic goddess even came _near _her. Nonetheless, she slipped the invite into her back pocket and nonchalantly looked up to find Danny gawking at her; jaw hanging down in sheer astonishment.

"Hi," Her voice was monotonous and lacking in emotion.

"Hey Sam, what's with the new look."

She peered at him with flat lilac eyes. His electric blue orbs were overflowing with… something strange. Another of those _feelings _that she couldn't seem to recall the name of, a number of 'c' words ran through her mind. Cute, concerned, callousness… nope, those didn't sound right at all. Eh, what did it matter, she couldn't _feel _such things anymore. She almost pitied him for being trapped within the fourth wall of human emotions.

"It's not new," she replied. "My mom said that I always wear this stuff. So this is what I put on this morning."

_Great, now her own mother is using her weird mood swings to manipulate her into a girly girl…_

His thoughts were stalled by the loud, ear-splitting noise that was the school bell.

"Come on, Sammy, we've got English lit first."

"Oh."

Those cold, detached answers were going to drive him mad. Her voice used to ring in his ears like the rustling of the angels wings, now, it was an isolated string of words that made him experience no happiness what so ever. Her aloof attitude was reminiscent of her parents, more specifically, her mother. He made a vow to himself that he would figure this out before Sam lost all the best aspects that attracted him to her in the first place…

"So, to continue where we left off," Lancer approached the blackboard with a book in one hand and a stick of chalk in the other, effortlessly ranting off a long list of Shakespearean productions. "I want you to really look at the basics of his use of language; naturally, it would be much easier to physically understand if you had been there in the time of Romeo and Juliet…"

"Shakespeare's plays were just an excuse for him to express the random perversity and twisted thoughts of his own mentality without getting hung for it." Sam's lifeless tone spoke out.

The entire class, including Mr. Lancer, watched the not-so-Goth girl as she continued to take notes without looking away from her rapidly filling page.

"Well, I've never heard anyone describe the work of William Shakespeare like _that _before," the slightly over weight English teacher said, not quite sure how to handle such a blunt answer. "I wouldn't say that you were correct in rendering his literature the way you did, but it is common for playwrights and authors to portray their own opinions into a context that is considered non-offensive. George Orwell's 'Animal Farm' is a very good example of that…"

Something hit Sam in the head and landed on her desk. A crumpled paper ball sat there. She tediously searched for the culprit who lobbed it at her, half expecting it to be Danny. Imagine her surprise to see Danny fighting away his tiredness, head attached to his desk. Eventually, her sight attached itself to a football player sitting a few rows behind her. He smiled and waved at her playfully. Clearly she wasn't bothered, but opened the wad of paper anyway.

_Hey Sam,_

_Way to douche Lancer! Nice one! I like your shirt btw._

_Kwan._

At this point, Sam stood up, the chair legs scraping the floor as she moved. She grabbed the hem of her shirt and – in full view of the room of 30 or so students – pulled her magenta t-shirt up over her head, rolled it into a ball and tossed it to the boy who had sent her the message.

Everyone was completely stunned, not the least of which was Kwan, who had turned a deep crimson as he held the still warm item of clothing.

She merely remained standing and faced the class, now showing off a b-cup, lacy purple, bra-covered bust, not to mention a silky smooth (and pierced) navel and part of her g-string, the majority of which could be seen due to the extremely slack denim pants she wore.

A unified gasp alerted the teacher that _something _was happening behind his back.

"OK, what is so- MISS MANSON!"

The loud hollering voice of Mr. Lancer soon woke Danny from his half sleep.

"What? What? I'm awake!" He piped up.

Then he saw Sam, who had removed her top, and, turning pink as the shirt she once had on, he almost lost it. He totally freaked out, jumped to his feet and wrapped his arms around her, as if defending her exposed flesh from being ogled at any longer.

"Jeez, Sam! What the hell were you _thinking_?" He yelled.

"Kwan said he liked my shirt, so I gave it to him." She calmly said.

Various clusters of laughter echoed out.

Danny snarled at Kwan viciously, who also shot a dirty look in return. Regardless of the frigid aura that Sam now carried around with her, Danny couldn't help but notice all kinds of inappropriate notions bombard his system when he felt her soft body pressed firmly against his own. He swallowed a lump of anxiety that stuck in his throat as he gazed at her mostly unclothed person. A bead of sweat ran down his face.

She maintained her expressionless guise, even though she herself noticed a certain amount of _pressure _coming from Danny's lower half. Her mind was giving orders to emotions that no longer existed within her, and so, she was compelled to go with whatever flow she had left, and placed her head on his shoulder.

"Excuse me, Miss Manson" the balding man cleared his throat. "But would it be too much trouble for you to put your clothes on and keep them there?"

* * *

And so begins the dawn of a new Sam, for now anyway. Well not really, she will be crazy and flat-toned for a few chapters but she'll probably be back to normal soon… hopefully!

Oh yeah, and when Kwan used the word 'douche', I was referring to the Brit slang use of the word, meaning 'to pwn'. E.g. You just got douched, **is equal to **You just got PWNed!

SS2K4


	3. Very Suggestible

**Very Suggestible**

"She did WHAT?"

"You heard me! Kwan apparently said that he liked the shirt she had on, so she took it off – in the middle of the classroom – and gave it to him!" Danny's face was still pink from the memory.

"OMG!" Tucker was holding himself as a barrel of laughter caused his stomach to hurt. "Damn, the one day I have to see the optician and Sam goes nuts while I'm not here."

"So what did the eye doctor say?" he fiddled with the blades of grass near his red sneakers. It was a rather nice day to be outside, but in his heart the sky was black and he was distracted by thoughts of what was ailing Sam.

"That I'm now old enough to get contact lenses." He suavely said, trying to look cool as he did that Fonzie-like finger point. "Where is Sam anyway?"

Danny jerked a thumb behind himself, gesturing to a now fully dressed Sam standing around with Paulina and Star, both congratulating her for having the guts to do what she did. The two popular girls were being giggly and smiling at her like they'd been friends forever. Sam, as usual, stayed unmoved by anything they were saying, but that didn't stop them trying to break through to her.

Tucker curiously witnessed Sam take out her cell phone and as she began reciting something on the screen, Paulina wrote it down on her arm with a purple marker. Star gave Sam a hug and then she and Paulina trotted off, waving goodbye to her as they went. It wasn't long, of course, until Kwan approached her, ironically enough sporting the same shade of red in his cheeks as that on his football jacket.

He was clearly nervous, rubbing the back of his neck and trying to explain something. When Sam got hold of her shirt hem once more, Kwan looked even more nervous. She pulled it up and once it reached her breasts, she stopped and tied it into a knot at the front. Again she reached for her phone and using a black felt tip jotted the same thing she'd given to Paulina onto Kwan's right palm.

She then proceeded to walk over to Danny and Tucker without so much as a 'see ya later'.

"Hi,"

The flat, insensitive tone she used gave Tuck the creeps.

"Hey Sam, what did Kwan want?" he asked. Danny simply sat in silence, waiting to hear the answer.

"He said that he didn't mean for me to actually take my shirt off for him, but he did like my navel bar and asked for my number." She perched herself on the grass next to Danny.

"So, because he said he liked your piercing, you adjusted your shirt so he could see it again?"

"Yes."

Tucker thought for a moment. An idea was forming in his head. He glanced at Sam's vacant expression and pondered everything he'd learned from Danny regarding her behaviour since yesterday. How she wore pink because her mom said that's what she always wore, the way she took her top off because Kwan said he liked it – obviously she'd assumed he wanted it – and for whatever reason, she was tolerating Paulina far more than anyone ever expected.

"Sam, I think I left my PDA in homeroom, could you check for me?"

She shrugged at him, stood up and walked toward the school again. Once she was gone, Danny cast a queer look at Tucker.

"Tuck, you always keep your PDA in your bag."

"Exactly,"

"Huh?"

Tucker slapped his forehead. Danny wasn't getting the idea; he had no idea of how to follow behavioural patterns. Having said that, Tucker only noticed these things due to his crush on Danny's big sister Jazz, it encouraged him to try and learn things about psychology in the vague hopes he held of impressing her.

"Ever since yesterday when she collapsed and hit her head, she's been very suggestible," Tucker explained. "Haven't you noticed?"

"Not really,"

"Apart from you, what other guy would she do something for without questioning it? Kwan says he liked her shirt and she took it off without thinking that everyone would see her _bra_!Can you imagine what would've happened if he said he liked her _pants_?" He frantically waved his arms around.

Danny said nothing, but his face turned completely scarlet.

"Do you remember the last time I asked Sam to check if I'd left my PDA behind? She told me, and I quote, to 'get off your backside and find it yourself'." Tucker said. "When Sam comes back, ask her to do something, even if it's totally absurd, just do it. If she does what you ask her to it'll prove that knock to the head has jarred her brain!"

He contemplated this for a moment. His usually girl-obsessed friend was thinking outside his usual teenage wavelength; to be honest, it was frightening. But no matter how weird the theory sounded, it had a strong case to back it up and for once in his techno geek life, Tucker Foley was completely and utterly correct. It wasn't long before she had returned, empty handed.

"You must've left it somewhere else," she added before slumping onto the ground casually.

Tucker nudged Danny in the ribs.

_Do it… _his teal eyes seemed to say.

"Uh, Sam," he swallowed yet another lump of anxiety caught in his throat. "I don't feel well, can I have a hug?"

She watched him with eyes, once lilac and refreshing, now fading into grey. Tuck held back a righteous laugh when Sam actually leaned over, wrapped her arms around Danny's neck and pulled him close to her. While the embrace she gave him offered no substance or warmth to ease his concerns, he was still enjoying the icy excuse for a cuddle. Any form of contact with her was enjoyable to him, no matter how disdainful it seemed.

Danny relaxed into it and hugged her back. They stayed there, quietly holding each other for a few minutes, until Sam broke the contact and heartlessly rose up. Tuck felt bad when he saw the pure heartbreak flooding into Danny's sky blue eyes. Sam's emotionless state was clearly killing him.

"Gotta go, meeting my cousin." And with that she left, not looking back once.

* * *

Wow, this is getting kind of freaky. I know, it's a dead short chapter, the next one should be longer and will probably have the Daikirai demon in it.

SS2K4


	4. Advice

**Advice**

Danny looked around at the many charts and posters of adolescent problems and contact numbers for teen therapists scattered on the calming blue walls. He couldn't believe he was doing this, and that Tucker so conveniently had plans with Jazz. Since when did Tucker manage to get Jazz's help when she's not even in classes he was failing?

_That's the beauty of it, _he recalled his friend saying. _If ya like a girl, you tell them that you really need to pass whatever subject you're studying and that you'd like them to be your tutor._

"Good afternoon Mr. Fenton."

Ms. Reville entered the room and smiled at the black-haired boy who had come to see her. She flicked her auburn curls and made her way to the desk, sifting through a number of papers in her hand. A big grin plastered itself to her bright, cheery face and her silvery-grey eyes glittered behind slim fashion glasses.

"Now, what did you want to talk to me about?"

"One of my friends recently hurt herself, by accident, and now it's like she's a soulless drone." He answered.

"She's not a cheerleader is she?"

"Uh no,"

"Sorry, just a little joke," She giggled and cleared her throat. "Did she go to the doctors after this accident?"

"I think so, I mean, the only physical injury she had was a cut on her temple, a few inches long, but I'm sure her parents would've had her checked out," Danny analysed. "I'm just concerned because she's been acting really weird. She took off her shirt in the middle of English lit today!"

"Wait, I heard about that," She pondered for a moment with her hand on her cheek. She ruffled through more papers and found one signed by Mr. Lancer. "Sam Manson, full name Samantha, recommended for a week of counselling, to commence tomorrow morning, for indecent exposure during an English lesson. Is that her?"

"I don't care to discuss it," He sternly remarked, cheeks burning. "I just need to know if it's possible for a blow to the head to cause someone to lose their emotions."

"It doesn't seem plausible to physically 'lose' your emotions, Danny, but it is likely this accident put things into perspective for her," She explained. "I was counselling a young lady last year, who had been abused by her father, abandoned by her mother and was just about ready to give up on life. And there was nothing I could do to change her mind, no matter how hard I tried."

"What happened to her?" He mumbled, gazing at her with disbelieving eyes.

"One day she was hit in the head by a football and fell from the bleachers. When I saw her three days later, her views had been completely flipped. I could've sworn it wasn't that same girl who had suicidal tendencies as a result of her troubled past. She was confident and happy; she had moved away from her dad and was at the start of proceedings for getting emancipated."

"Can you tell me who she was?"

"I'm afraid that information is strictly on a need-to-know basis," She shook her head. "But my point remains valid. Nothing like a smack to the head to give you a real sense of what's important, and when you get hit by the last straw, suddenly you realise that in life, your number one priority is _yourself._"

"But that doesn't make any sense! All I want to know is why has Sam turned into a cold, unfeeling shell of who she used to be?" He stood up and slammed his white-knuckled fists on the desk.

"Daniel, calm down," She glared at him, "Take a deep breath and answer me one thing,"

"What?"

"Before the accident, was Sam emotional, highly strung, maybe had her heart broken a few times?"

"She was very distant for a few weeks beforehand. She didn't seem to want to hang out with us anymore, always sneaking off with 'girl problems' and from what I know, she's only had her heart broken once." Danny started to pace the floor, tugging at his hair and flinging his arms about. "And now she's just… just not herself. It's driving me mad that when I look in her eyes, all I see is a flat-line and the vibrant purple that used to be there has gone."

"Hmm," Ms. Reville took in every word of what Danny said, making notes and drawing conclusions in the back of her mind.

"Her voice sounds so depressed and empty, like someone's taken something from her, and what's worse I can't figure out what it is," He spun in a circle and fell back into his seat once more. "Something is different about her - changing her from the inside - and it's killing me that I'm helpless to stop it."

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence.

"Danny, have you tried spending time with her? You know, just the two of you?" She questioned, still taking notes.

His blush deepened further and he refused to make eye contact with the counsellor.

"Like a date?" He squeaked.

"Well, maybe not so much a date, but a few hours of quality time wouldn't go amiss." She was definitely hinting at something specific. "It sounds to me like she feels neglected. I know Sam's parents are very rarely home, and when they are it probably smothers her spirit."

"Neglected? You make her sound like she's my pet that I'm not feeding or caring for properly."

Stifling a badly timed giggle that the fact of Danny's ever glowing cheeks appeared to be getting redder, the auburn-haired woman twisted the pencil in her delicate fingers. He felt pretty foolish when he saw the incredibly amused smile she wore. Perhaps he could've worded that better.

"I assure you it's nothing like that, but I am serious. Don't think I'm not aware of the relations in this school; I've seen sparks fly in all directions, between different students," here she leaned across the desk and stared him down. "And you, Daniel Fenton, happen to make a raging lightning storm look like a dead light bulb when you're around Ms. Manson."

Danny glanced sideways, shyly ruffled his hair and tried to avoid making his embarrassment too obvious.

"Just bear it in mind, OK? I know that if you show Sam that you care she'll be better soon…"

* * *

"It's nice to see you again, child." He sensed her presence before she had said anything. "Tea?"

"No thanks, Daikirai," she sincerely replied.

He turned to take a look at her.

"Maybe you should have some tea after all; you're looking a bit green in the gills."

The bizarre term he used would've normally confused her, but still in her apathetic condition made no effort to humour him with false reactions. He was proud of his workmanship – no one had ever taken to this indifferent mind-set so quickly, or so well. By all means he was right though; Sam did appear peaky, like a pale green indicative of nausea.

"OK then," She decided. "I'll have some tea."

_Another one for the list… _He thought, eyeing her up strangely. _If she doesn't invoke protocol 37-b soon, she'll change just like the others…_

"So, uh, how goes the assignment?"

"I don't know," She accepted the cup and rather than drink the hot beverage, simply watched the surface ripple when she moved.

"Now child, speak up."

She stared at him with a look of pure wide eyed nothingness on her face. Why was he asking her when she really didn't know? Without feelings it was hard to tell what she was meant to be doing. Danny had something to do with it, she knew that much, but since her chest pains vanished so did her focus.

In any case she wasn't really that bothered. A lot of her suffering had faded. In its place there was a numb sense of loss. All the bad emotions that made her feel awful had been taken, so had all the good ones that made her believe life was worth living. That feeling she used to get when she was with Danny – gone, or the one which gave her a lasting impression of angst – also gone.

Due to her lack of memory as to what those mental feelings did to her physical body, she was without anything and everything all at once.

"Uh, what was the assignment again?"

* * *

It's getting hard for me to express mind numbing emotionless so I apologise if this gets stupid real quick.

SS2K4


	5. Complications

**Complications**

"You signed away your emotions to me to stop the heart ache," He reminded her. "I assumed you were going to use this emotionless state of mind for a specific purpose."

"I probably did, but now I just can't seem to remember what it was," She pondered for a moment, trying to recall her original plans. "What exactly _is _protocol 37-b? You never did tell me."

"Oh, well, I guess I never did explain it properly, did I?"

Sam shook her head.

"Protocol 37-b basically gives you a second chance to find new love. Quite often this is used in cases like yours; where you feel so destroyed by the fact that the object of your affection and desires doesn't notice you as anything higher than a friend." Daikirai clicked his talons against the porcelain cup he held. "But I will be honest with you, child. It was that very protocol which transformed me into the demon you see before you."

Her fading eyes, half lidded and seemed barely interested in anything he had to tell her, were creepy to say the least. How was she supposed to grasp this concept?

"I realise that without your human feelings of 'fear' and 'worry' this warning won't mean much to you, but if you are not repaid the love owed to you within two weeks, you will be declared emotionally dead and will take my place as the Daikirai demon."

"And what will become of _you_ if I take your place?" Even when asking a question she sounded almost like a human slice of death.

"I… I don't know…" Daikirai threw his mug of tea across the room, where it smashed into a thousand pieces on the floor. He dragged his claws down either side of his face.

Sam watched as he marred his scales with thick green lines of pouring liquid. The gruesome cuts took her back to memories of Danny. Like the time he came to her house one night, arm almost shredded to pieces and ghost blood drenched all over his body. Again a rumble of feelings bubbled in her stomach, but she made no move to help the bleeding creature. She simply stood there as his indigo gaze glanced at her casual figure and the marble floor slowly turned green from the fluids he lost.

His eyes were filled with pity.

Her lifeless reactions bothered him to no end. Such a caution meant nothing if one is lacking the emotions to understand its importance. Not only was her dead voice hurting his ears, as well as his sense of hope, but it reminded him that Sam was too young to get stuck with this job. He would make sure she got the love she deserved; he was determined to give her emotions back one way or another, whether that love came from Danny or not, it didn't matter.

Perhaps it was time for a new boy to step into Danny's light, a boy who wouldn't rip Sam's heart in two at every single opportunity when it was close to healing; a boy who would have almost every advantage over Danny. But there was only so much that one demon of Hatred could do, and one thing was certain, he would need the help of an expert…

* * *

He paced the sidewalk nervously, repeating the same 5 ft distance between the concrete banisters of the steps leading to the Manson place. It's not like he was proposing or asking her to bear his children. He was just asking her to spend some time with him, just the two of them. But if it really was just a friendly endeavour, why was he trying so hard? He'd gone to some trouble where his wardrobe was concerned and almost felt like a pre pubescent girl going to her first boyband concert judging by how long it'd taken him to decide on the right outfit.

Eventually, he settled for a plain baby blue t-shirt, hidden by a short-sleeved over shirt that was a distinct hue of grey. Not to mention the black baggy jeans - those had been sitting in his closet for a few months - ending just two inches over his usual red sneakers. So much darkness for a regular, easy going teenage boy, and he thanked the God of hormones that Jazz or Tucker hadn't seen him – then he'd be in for the teasing of a lifetime.

Oh dear Lord, why did he have to take the advice of that crazy red-haired counsellor who reminded him strangely of his older sister?

_**FLASHBACK**_

"_Danny, have you tried spending time with her? You know, just the two of you?"_

"_Like a date?"_

"_Well, maybe not so much a date, but a few hours of quality time wouldn't go amiss. It sounds to me like she feels neglected. I know Sam's parents are very rarely home, and when they are it probably smothers her spirit."_

"_Neglected? You make her sound like she's my pet that I'm not feeding or caring for properly."_

"_I assure you it's nothing like that, but I am serious. Don't think I'm not aware of the relations in this school; I've seen sparks fly in all directions, between different students, and you, Daniel Fenton, happen to make a raging lightning storm look like a dead light bulb when you're around Ms. Manson."_

_**FLASHBACK**_

"Just like Ms. Reville said, if you show Sam that you care she'll be better soon and- AHH!"

Danny turned on his 50th lap only to come face to face with the girl he'd been fretting over 24/7 for lo the past three-and-a-half weeks. Once again, her expression remained dead and it sliced at his insides. He smiled and anxiously waved at her. She returned the gesture, but like the hug at school and the one before that, it was a painfully heartless motion that essentially meant nothing to her.

"Hi,"

"Um, I was wondering if you, uh, wanted to like, hang out or something."

"Where's Tucker?"

"No, Sam, I mean just me and you," He reached over and gently held her hand.

She looked at him. For a split second, her grey, dying eyes flashed bright purple. Oh yeah, he saw the glimmer of colour, and he felt tons better for it. He squeezed her fingers and pulled her towards him; the gap between them was too big in Danny's opinion. And to be perfectly honest, this situation appeared to be building up his hopes with little chance of breaking them.

_Whoa, slow down, she's still being distant and she's far from her normal self…_

"So where are we going?" She asked.

"I guess this would be a good time to visit Ground Zero."

Her blatant look of boredom was crushing. She used to _love _Ground Zero! It wasn't exactly a Goth store, but it was incredibly dark and disturbing. It was actually a comic book store near the arcade, frequented by a friendly mix of Goth-like individuals, Anime fanatics and Vintage fan girls. He and Tucker very rarely went in, only when they joined the old Sam, who was often looking for the latest volume of Gravitation or Princess Ai, or possibly even a Wolf's Rain t-shirt.

_Maybe this little trip will spark something in her mind…_

"C'mon Sam,"

He pulled on her hand again, as if tugging her along. He turned to grin at her innocently and sincerely wished she would smile back. As a guy, he wasn't great at being really affectionate, but for Sam's sake, he was going to try to make her feel the way he always wanted her to. Funny how a sudden attitude change had forced Danny to realise that he should've made this kind of effort with her when she had to emotions to appreciate it.

Perhaps he assumed that she'd always be there for him when other girls shot him down, that she was his rock who would cheer him up when he was depressed, and patiently wait on the sidelines while he figured out whatever he was supposed to call the feelings that he experienced when he was with her. But once again Fate decided to kick him in the ass and pull this cruel joke out of the cesspool.

Despite the empty shell where her emotions used to sit, she picked up her pace and wrapped both her arms around his left forearm. A large overshadowing blush streaked across his cheeks. He glanced at her face – still just as dead as always. So why was she doing this? This kind of behaviour was reserved for couples and yet here she was, still blank and inexpressive, but clinging to him in a way that only a girlfriend would.

"Ground Zero, huh?"

"Yeah," He nodded.

"How did I used to feel about that place?"

It was so freaking weird, _telling _someone what they were supposed to feel about a place they visited often. There was a time when you couldn't control emotions, what happened to change that theory?

"Well, you always loved going in there to look at the graphic novels and stuff." He explained, ever cautious about her cold breath on his neck.

"Did you and Tucker like it there?"

"I did, it was fun hanging out with you, I don't think there was enough technology there for Tuck."

"Does that boy know he's a nerd?" Sam monotonously blurted out the rather blunt statement.

"I think he's in denial," Danny said before laughing out loud. Whether she was trying to or not, she had just exhibited her trademark quick witted humour – exactly the way she used to – and he was on the verge of crying.

"Danny?"

"Yeah, Sam?"

"You OK? You seem… uh…"

"I seem what?"

"I'm not sure," Her brow wrinkled in thought. "It's one of those feelings I used to get."

He chuckled briefly.

At least she was speaking to him with more than one syllable sentences. Before she had started acting like that blasted misery chick, she was a clever, talkative and, on occasions, an energetic person. Agile in gym class, perhaps a little too happy for a Goth at functions she enjoyed, artistic and imaginative when she wanted. He really, _really _missed the way she used to be, and at this point, his desire to have her back pushed him even closer to breaking down.

"Danny?"

"Hmm?"

"I like you," She emptily whispered. "Just thought you should know..."

Danny's heart stopped.

Sam's emotions were still flat lining. She didn't really know what emotions were, and she certainly couldn't name them. Yet, out of nowhere, she had said something, and in such a voice that was difficult to believe, but it was obvious that she meant it.

Even in her state of monotony, she had taken the first step to reaching Protocol 37-b.

Samantha Manson admitted that she liked Danny Fenton…

* * *

Well, well. Who knew that counsellor would have a point? OK, I probably moved it a bit too quickly, but it doesn't get easier for them, no way. Daikirai is still determined to find a new boy for Sam, and next chapter you'll find out who he gets to help him XD

SS2K4


	6. Decisions

**Decisions**

"Are you really going to that sleepover Saturday?"

"I guess so," Sam answered, thumbing through the 'C' section on a great cavernous wall stacked from ceiling to floor with graphic novels. "Is that a problem for you?"

"No, don't be ridiculous… I just… I never thought you'd get on with Paulina." Danny ruffled his hair and searched her face for emotion through the corner of his eye. Nope, nothing…

"She seems nice enough,"

There were so many things wrong with what she just said that he couldn't even begin to understand it.

Sam was a fairly simple girl; she didn't really 'hate' anything, and by all means preferred not to harbour a grudge against anyone, with one exception – Paulina Sanchez. During the points between his mega-crush on the self proclaimed Queen of Casper High sparking up and dying down, he sometimes noticed that Sam's lilac eyes would blaze a fierce ruby red at the very mention of her name.

Had he paid more attention, he might have caught onto her obvious jealousy much quicker, but alas, he left it too little too late. In any case, he had a good chance to make it up to her. Was it really envy that Sam used to feel when he fawned over Paulina? It certainly looked that way, but Danny didn't want to think he was falsely inflating his ego.

"You like her don't you?"

He froze.

That question hit too close to home.

Did he still like her? He wasn't entirely sure. No red blooded male could resist crushing on Paulina, that's just the way it was, but was he _really _over her? Newton's Third Law of Motion practically dictated that if his feelings for Sam grew stronger, it was only natural his feelings for Paulina would get weaker. Bear in mind that these 'laws' were from the era of powdered wigs and frilly white shirts, so it didn'treally have any relevance to the war of emotions going on in his head.

In the end, he chose not to answer and instead to change the subject.

"How far in the Gravitation series are you?" Danny asked, running his finger along the nearest row of Tokyopop books.

"Volume 10," Her samey tone drilled into his stomach. "Anyway, I'm gonna go check out the living dead dolls, coming?"

_How appropriate… _He thought. Emotions or not, Sam always liked those Gothic dolls and probably always will."Yeah, I'll be there in a minute."

While she became engrossed in the sinister looking playthings, Danny drifted along the 'G' division of comics and picked out what he was searching for. Something else caught his eye a few sections along. The cover had a magenta background, and in the foreground there was a white-haired guy with wolf ears and a pair of fangs protecting a black-haired girl, dressed in what looked like a Japanese school uniform.

"Inu Yasha, A feudal fairy tale, volume three," The characters reminded him of Sam and himself. He couldn't help but smile. He took both books over to the cashier who was, ironically, reading a graphic novel too.

Danny cleared his throat.

"Oh, sorry, didn't see you there," he apologised and put down the comic, putting a ruler in it to mark the page he reached.

"D.N.Angel?"

"It's about a high school kid who changes into the Dark Phantom Thief whenever he gets feelings for this girl he fell in love with, at least, that's what I think is going on," The brunette teen laughed as he scanned the bar codes on the back. "Ever notice how a lot of these Manga's have cheesy romantic sub plots that fan girls just go nuts over."

"Yeah," Danny couldn't stop himself from glancing over at Sam.

"Lemme guess, this one's for your girlfriend, right?" He held up Gravitation volume 11 and Danny grinned awkwardly. "I kinda overheard your conversation…"

"She's not my girlfriend, but yes, it's for her."

With an indescribable smirk, he reached under the counter and presented a black gift box with purple stripes in the corner. He slotted the book inside and tied a black ribbon around it. Danny nodded appreciatively and handed over a twenty, only to have the older teen push it away.

"Don't tell my boss, but I'll cover ya, just this once!" He said with a wink and gave him the bag.

"Thanks man,"

He watched the blue eyed boy run over to the girl still occupied by a menagerie of Goth-like accessories and shook his head.

"So much denial…" He mumbled before returning to where he left off in D.N.Angel.

* * *

Daikirai inhaled deeply and let out a tedious sigh. Maybe this wasn't such a great idea. He and his friend had been doing this for 6 hours straight. His butt was asleep, his caffeine buzz was wearing down and his beautifully decorated realm had been littered with files, fact sheets and folders. Finding the right boy was harder than it first appeared.

"O-Kay, candidate #153," He tiredly rubbed his eyes.

"Hey, no slacking!" A highly camp male voice yelled. "You asked for my help and now here I am."

"When I asked for your help, Cupid, I was hoping we'd be done by now."

"Excuse me, Daikirai, but who's the love expert here?" The impish creature squeaked, hands on hips.

"You, but who has an endless supply of French Vanilla coffee grounds?" He snidely remarked.

"Ah, touché,"

"There are about 200 odd male students at Casper High and-"

"Why does she have to be with a guy her own age?" Cupid questioned, shuffling the 'rejected' pile.

"I have enough trouble trying to keep an eye on her as it is, the last thing I need is her getting involved with an older guy…"

He saw the juvenile look on the fairy's face.

"…because in her emotionless state she's very suggestible and college guys are worse than the British – sex, sex, sex all the damn time!"

"Ooh, I see what you mean," he agreed. "Well, let's continue. #153, who is that…?"

"Dash,"

"Ah, yes, Dashel Nathaniel Baxter," the pink-haired sprite confirmed. "Blonde hair, blue eyes, 6 ft nothing, 16 years and three months, and big into sports… He sounds like a nice guy."

"It won't work, I've looked into Sam's background, she kissed him once and they've hated each other ever since." Daikirai handed over a thick file on the subject of the Manson girl. "Actually, they hated each other even before that."

Cupid flicked through it, taking in as much of the information as possible. He brought his hand to his chin and squinted at every page he saw. Pretty soon he grinned and waved his hand in the air like an over-enthusiastic school kid. The large demon sipped at his coffee and peered at the queer fairy.

"What's got your diaper in a twist?"

"It says here that she and Dash were in the Fitness Buddy program together-"

"But it also says they didn't _actually _work as a team, they were paired off with other – less physically fit - individuals and by the end of it they were BOTH glad it was over."

"I have to say, you're very picky aren't you?" His face twisted into a knowing grin. "It's almost as if you like her yourself."

"Don't be ridiculous, I just don't want her to get hurt and I certainly don't want her getting stuck with my job – it's not a very interesting career."

"Maybe not, but I love what you've done with the place; it's fabulous!"

Deep purple eyes sparkled at the naivety of his accomplice. It would've been a lot better if it didn't look like a filing cabinet exploded. A ticking office supply time bomb got dragged into his realm and was detonated about two minutes later. Still, as long as Sam got the love she'd been denied, he could always tidy up another day, but he didn't have much time left before she'd have to give up her mortal existence.

It was days like this that made him realise just how cruel his powers were.

"Very well… Next is #154 Daniel James Fen-"

"Pass!" He glared viciously at Cupid and no more was said on the matter.

"Touchy subject I assume, I always thought he and Sam would make a cute couple personally," He mumbled, suddenly on the receiving end of more dirty looks. "On to #155, Kwan Jin Taylor; black hair, teal eyes, 6ft nothing, 16 years and two months, and he plays football. From what I understand, Sam went out with him once before and although she claimed it to be a pity date; she retained a tiny attraction to him."

"Maybe we finally struck the right chord…" Daikirai took Kwan's contact sheet and clawed through the minor details. "Mmm, says here he dumped her for a girl named Star."

"But didn't you tell me that she took off her shirt for him as a result of this emotionless 'thing' you've got her on? And that he asked for her number and she actually gave it to him?"

"Yes, that is true," The demon pondered everything they'd discussed. Nearly seven hours of bombarding his brain with facts and figures and statistics and it all came down to this. "OK, Kwan Taylor gets a week trial, if they click; I trust you to make it permanent."

"Yay! We have a winner!" Cupid cheerfully danced around, twirling his wand like a cheerleader's baton.

_Why are all my friends crazy? _

He could barely watch as the Fairy of Love pranced about like some depraved ballerina, skipping and laughing and doing a strange dance move from the sixties. Great, all his hopes for Sam's survival were pinned on a diaper-wearing campy imp and a 16 year old half cast football player. The teenager he could rely on, that much was certain, but Cupid? No, that would take some faith, a bucket load of faith, and a helluva lot of trust that he wouldn't shoot the wrong person or something.

* * *

Danny quietly munched on an ice cream while Sam savoured a cherry lollipop. The sun was setting, a smooth breeze wafted between them, and life felt so good for one afternoon. She had made no further improvement to her soulless manner; in fact, it probably got worse after they left Ground Zero. They had run into Paulina, Star and their little posse. The girls fussed over Sam like she'd just got her first Wonderbra, while Danny got dangerously close to starting a fight with Kwan.

From that point her attitude kind of plummeted. He tried to cheer her up a bit by stopping at the candy store halfway home, but it had failed. He hadn't given her the present yet either, he wanted to give it to her when he walked her back to her place, so that he would be the last thing she thought about before she went to sleep and – hopefully – the first thing she thought of when she woke up.

All too soon they were back where they had started, standing outside Sam's house in the ever growing dusk.

"Uh, Sam?"

"Danny?"

"I got you something from Ground Zero…"

He reached into the bag and gave her an ebony and lilac box. She looked at the gift and then up at Danny. Her insides scorched as one of those feelings she has surrendered, rose up through the nerve endings in her spine and scratched her face from beneath her skin. His beautiful blue eyes purged her soul with sweet frustration.

She noticed him avert his gaze skyward and redness overtook his cheeks. Looking down at the present in her hands, she deftly untied the ribbon and lifted the lid of the box. The smiling face of Shuichi greeted her from the glossy cover of Gravitation volume 11. A gesture so cheesy yet so sweet it made her lips twitch on one side, eventually lifting them to half smile.

"Thank you," Her voice sounded much less pointless than it did earlier, as if something was coming back to her and, without a second thought, kissed Danny's cheek lightly. "See you tomorrow."

She walked up the steps and went into the large building she called home. Danny was frozen again. Only this time he had been paralysed by the kiss of a girl he highly regarded as beautiful. Inwardly he celebrated this turning point with all his being. Some of it slipped out in the form of a loud rebel yell of her name.

All said and done, he bounded down the road, happily dancing as he went.

"I will have you back Sam!" He yelled on his way home. What he did not see, of course, was a drenched-in-pink fairy wielding a bow and arrow, searching for his football playing target…

* * *

This chappie was kinda rushed cuz once again I've been left to look after a pair of stupid dogs that aren't even mine. I swear, if I had a social life my brother would be screwed!

SS2K4


	7. Disruptions

**Disruption**

Confusion was not a foreign emotion to Kwan. Often he struggled when learning the more complicated football plays and making heads or tails of his math teacher's constant blathering about algebra. Even so he never expected to feel as confused as he did right then. His mind wasn't really awake at the time either, the time being much earlier than he'd like to be up and about on a Thursday morning. After all, one of many perks of being on the football team included instant forgiveness for showing up a bit later than the other students. 

He was a great believer in the phrase 'everything happens for a reason', although he did wonder what reason there could be for the sudden urge he had to walk Sam Manson to school.

He rang the doorbell of the large house.

A pale goth girl answered the door, looking up at him with apathetic grey eyes.

"Yes? Can I help you?" she asked.

"I, uh, I was wondering if I could, um, walk you to school?" He grinned nervously.

Sam closed the door. More confusion buzzed around the inside of Kwan's head. Rejection wasn't something he was used to, neither was getting up early for the sake of a girl, but she didn't speak at all; she could've said no, or even get lost, at least that way she wouldn't have come across so rude. Just when he was hit by an oddly crestfallen feeling, the door opened again. Sam waltzed out casually wearing Capri pants and a yellow tank top. 

Kwan smiled.

"Thank you," She mumbled in his direction. 

Polite as it was, her tone was still cold, not that it mattered to him – he was simply glad she hadn't rejected him all together. As they started to walk down the street, Kwan did start to feel a little bit awkward. This was the girl who had gone out with him once before if only for the sake of pity; the girl who'd taken off her shirt and thrown it to him in class, and the girl who had been on his mind constantly since yesterday. 

"So…" He nervously began. "I heard you gotta go to counselling this morning because of yesterday…"

"Yeah, but it's not like it matters," She glanced at her manicured nails which her mother insisted she usually had done every morning. "I doubt she'll say anything helpful."

She then turned to watch his cheeks slowly turn pink. Her stomach bubbled again. More feelings threatened her innards, or maybe just indigestion from eating too much toast and low fat cream cheese. 

"What are you feeling?"

"Huh?"

"Your cheeks are pink and your eyes are showing some kind of feeling."

"Are you serious?"

"I… I don't know, serious isn't a word I understand."

Kwan was stunned. Sam was well known for her good grades and gothic nature, she certainly wasn't stupid, so surely she was kidding about not understanding what 'serious' meant. It seemed that she too had a major case of confusion. He decided to overlook her rather odd behaviour and just enjoy her company, regardless of how blasé it was. Casper High soon appeared on the horizon, leaving the boy disappointed that he didn't seem to connect with this cold unfeeling female. 

"Thank you for walking with me," her voice, so indifferent, sent chills up his spine.

She politely offered a single nod of the head in gratitude before waltzing off toward the counsellor's office. His head was spinning and his soul suddenly began teeming with a cold, sinister inkling. He wanted so much to get closer to her, but she was such an impassive and thick skinned individual. Not that he understood the urge to get to know her; after all she was considered one of the many unpopular kids that his team mates – and their girlfriends – were prone to pick on for no other reason than the fact that it was part of their 'job'.

It was here, in the school parking lot, where Kwan decided that being at the top of the teenage food chain sucked. He liked playing football and hanging out with his friends, but he was starting to see things he always saw, but didn't used to notice in great detail. Walking up to the main entrance he saw a freshmen getting wedgied by a couple of seniors. He went through the double doors and browsed the hallway; a member of the chess club was being stuffed into his own locker, slanderous posters (written in Dash's handwriting) had been stuck to the walls mocking the debate team, and now that Fenton guy was approaching him with a very angry look on his face.

"Stay away from Sam!" He growled.

"What? I didn't do anything wrong." Kwan yelled defensively.

"I saw you at her house this morning on my way here," Danny sneered. "I'm warning you to leave her alone!"

"Get over yourself…" He muttered as he pushed the boy aside and carried on to his homeroom. 

Danny continued growling even after Kwan disappeared around the corner. He was extremely tempted to go ghost and unleash his own brand of ectoplasmic revenge on the defiant football player.

"Wake up on the wrong side of the bed?"

He turned to see Tucker, half asleep and rubbing his eyes.

"Whoa, you look awful!" 

"Thanks a lot," Tucker yawned loudly. "If you must know I've been having hell-scary nightmares."

"About….?"

"Oh you know, a huge green dragon breathing flames everywhere... blah blah blah, smashing buildings with a big staff and starting a huge lightning storm with its evil lizard powers; same old, same old." He answered nonchalantly, rubbing his eyes again before wriggling his fingers to emphasise his lack of enthusiasm.

"Sounds fun," He remarked sarcastically.

"So what provoked you to yell at Kwan?"

"I was on my way to Sam's house, and he got there before me, I don't even know what he was doing there in the first place!" Danny sneered. "Since when does Kwan give half a thought to anyone but himself or his team-mates?"

Tucker shrugged, not particularly bothered about the specifics; he was far too tired. He'd been having this nightmare for several days, though each time it got more graphic and detailed. Looking back, the dream had started to plague him about the same time as when Sam collapsed outside school, and while it hadn't affected him at first, now it was keeping him up at night. Afraid to fall asleep for risk of being scared to death – by a figment of his own imagination no less.

He wasn't in the mood to deal with Danny and his obsessive protectiveness of Sam. Not today at least. Maybe yesterday, or the day before, but right now he needed his space. His half-ghost friend had made a timely disappearance, no doubt wanting to follow Kwan to make sure he kept his distance from their Gothic friend.

"Excuse me?" 

He looked to his right and saw an unfamiliar boy.

"Oh, sorry kid, am I in your way?"

"I'm a little lost," He chuckled nervously. "It's my first day and I don't know where the Administration office is."

Tucker glanced over the newbie. He was roughly the same age as himself and his friends – they would no doubt end up in the same homeroom – although age would be the only thing they had in common. He was dressed differently to what was considered the 'teenage style' of clothing. Dark sunglasses, a smart white shirt-and-tie combo that was worn quite messily over black denim jeans adorned with claw-mark slits in the left pant leg, traditional Japanese sandals (a lot like those worn by _Samurai Jack_) and a gleaming dog tag stating 'Pitbulls need love too'. 

"I'll show you," He offered wearily, stifling an impromptu yawn. 

"Thanks, I hope I'm not interrupting what you were doing." 

"Nah, my friend ran off to see someone and I'm so tired I couldn't go chasing after him," As the walked down the hallway, he watched the newbie's feet walking effortlessly in what was essentially a pair of wooden platform clogs. "Those shoes look painful."

"Not really, but I've always worn these kind of sandals so I'm used to it," He smiled, sensing that the person helping him was curious about his choice of footwear. "I have to put two little rubber strips along the bottom so they don't sound like horse hooves!"

"I'm Tucker by the way," he stopped and offered the newbie a friendly handshake. "Am I right in thinking that you're not from here?"

"My name is Kai, and yes you're right; I came to town just yesterday…" 

"Well, this is the Admin office," Tuck gestured to the door next to them. "If you need anything else you can ask the staff, or come find me, whichever is easiest."

"Thank you again," Kai politely nodded and waltzed into the office.

He waved the newbie goodbye but not before doing a double take; he almost swore that he'd seen a glimpse of a long green tail trailing behind from under the newbie's shirt. He shook his head. There was no doubt in his mind that he was officially sleep-deprived and was now hallucinating.

Wandering the corridors like a video game zombie, Tucker headed towards his homeroom, his head racked with strange and unnerving thoughts. Maybe he should stop eating so much meat; it could be clogging his system and preventing his mind from working properly. No, meat wasn't the problem, it was that damn nightmare. Keeping him awake and rendering him uselessly tired during the day. In all fairness, it's not like the lack of sleep was making his grades suffer. In fact, by using one of his less important classes for a powernap, his grades seemed to be improving slightly; not by a great deal mind, just enough so that he didn't get bombarded by his teachers or parents.

He opened the homeroom door and shuffled into his usual seat in the middle row. Not too close to the front, and not too far from the back. That's just how he liked it. Breezily, he looked around the classroom. Danny wasn't there, and neither was Sam. Sam's absence was explainable, the whole taking-her-shirt-off-in-class incident had given her a free trip to the counsellors office. Danny however, was absent for a mystery reason that Tucker had an inkling about, but wasn't entirely sure. What he did know, was that if Danny didn't get there in time for role call, he'd get another tardy – it had to be the tenth one he'd gotten this month. 

The sound of the door opening stuck his ears and he looked up. It was Kai. Just as he'd predicted, the newbie had been assigned the same homeroom as he and his friends. Kai waved at Tucker and took the seat next to him. Mr Lancer came in the room seconds later.

"Okay, okay, everyone settle down," He grumbled loudly. Picking up a sheet of paper on his desk, he quickly read it and scanned the room. "Kai Raiden?"

Kai raised his hand.

"Would you like to come up here and introduce yourself to the class?"

Tuck noticed Kai grow nervous. Understandable really, talking in front of a room full of people is one thing, but these were high school students he had to face. If Kai didn't make the right impression straight away, he would be as a lamb to slaughter. As the newbie stood and walked up to Lancer's desk at the front of the room, a few of the girls started giggling. The confident faces of the popular people turned to sly, unwavering grins. The newbie was like prey to them, a target that they swiftly locked onto.

"Hi, I'm Kai Raiden, I was born in Japan but raised in Miami," His voice was slowly sounding more assertive. "I moved to Amity Park yesterday, and that's about it."

"Thank you, Kai, you may take your seat," Lancer said. 

The newbie breathed a sigh of relief and slumped into his chair.

"Do you think anyone will bother me?" Kai whispered to Tucker.

"I don't think so; only kids who make fools of themselves on the first day get hassled," He replied. "But the quarterback may still want to make an example of you, so just stay alert okay?"

"Okay." Kai grinned.

Tuck sort of hoped that Dash and his cronies might give Kai some slack, but the chances of that were slim. All new students were considered a threat to his position at the top of the hierarchy, and as the blonde quarterback readied a paper ball to throw, it had become certain that Kai would be treated as any other newbie…

**OK, for those of you who don't know, I shall spoil it, mostly because I cannot be bothered to play the guessing game with ya'lls asses. Kai is just Daikirai in human form; he's there to make sure that Cupid didn't mess up and shoot the wrong person.**

**Enjoy!**


End file.
